Delirium Tremens?

"I'm sorry to be such a bother." Claudia paces back and forth on the tilted deck. "But I just have to know. Do you understand that?"

"Sure," you say. "I guess so. How about delirium tremens? When heavy drinkers have to stop drinking, they get delirious."

"But they didn't have to stop. They had casks and casks of aquavit left."

"Then how about liver failure? If they all were gulping down grog every day..."

She considers it. "No good," she decides. "They had reduced their daily grog ration from 1/4 to 1/8 aquavit. And liver damage takes time. These poor blokes went from perfectly fine to raving loonies in less than a month."

"Rats," you say.

"Let's go through the possibilities again," Claudia says.

"Right," you say. "How about mercury in the medicines? Both calomel and corrosive sublimate have mercury in them, and mercury makes people go insane."

"Only a pinch of it used," she says, drawing a hand across her face. "Again, hardly enough to drive fifteen men howling mad."

An Access Excellence Science Mystery sponsored by Genentech, Inc.
Copyright © 1997 Genentech, Inc.; all rights reserved.